Hearings into Titan submersible tragedy reveal safety concerns, inexperienced staff

The Manila Times

Hearings into Titan submersible tragedy reveal safety concerns, inexperienced staff  The US Coast Guard began hearings on Monday, September 16, into the undersea implosion of a tourist submersible that killed all five people aboard in June 2023 while diving to the century-old wreck of the Titanic.  Coast Guard auxiliaries created an animation using data from the support vessel Polar Prince and Titan's telemetry, including all text communications during the dive. Testimonies by former employees revealed safety concerns and highlighted insufficient training by staff, while also depicting the company’s founder, Stockton Rush, as negligent.  The accident has raised questions about the unregulated nature of such expeditions and the decision by OceanGate to forego third-party industry review and certification of Titan's novel design.   US COAST GUARD VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes  #worldnews  #submarine

Transcript

00:00Would you have felt comfortable as the Director of Engineering going down in the Titan Submersible,

00:05specifically Hull 1, to full radio depth?

00:09That's almost the best question here, isn't it?

00:12So, Stockton's and my relationship started to turn sour.

00:18He asked me, he wanted me to be the pilot that runs the Titanic missions.

00:26And I told him I'm not getting in it.

00:29And he asked me why.

00:32And I said, because the operations crew, I don't trust them.

00:36But I didn't trust Stockton either.

00:39They would take a look at where we started and when I was hired, nothing that I got was the truth.

00:45I was held with a bag and trying to save and I couldn't quit.

00:51From my perspective, personally, it's very stressful and death by a thousand cuts.

00:56And if he wanted somebody to go in it and he was truthful with it,

01:04it's why the word experimental is in the waiver.

01:07I made him put that in there.

01:09We argued for a long time over that word, for sure.

01:13But you cannot do that without letting people know that it's experimental.

01:19Was there a designated safety officer for Ocean Gate operations during your time?

01:24That's a good question, that operations thing.

01:28I don't know.

01:34You would point out there were some young engineers, and by young I mean late teens, early 20s,

01:42without any experience that we were aware of, wrenching on the sub,

01:47and without supervision right there on them.

01:53That made me nervous.

01:54I don't know.

01:55I know I don't know what I'm doing.

01:57And to see these young people without somebody supervising just what they're doing,

02:02do they know what the torque specs are?

02:04Do they know if they're dissimilar metals?

02:07Things of that nature.

02:09Were you aware that the Titan was not classed?

02:12The Titan?

02:13Titan.

02:14Yes.

02:15Have you ever had a conversation with Mr. Rush regarding the classification procedure

02:19and or requirements for the Titan?

02:21Yes.

02:22Can you please tell me about that conversation?

02:25They're usually rather short.

02:29I guess that wasn't as big of a worry for him as it would be for most people.

02:34Did you feel in Expedition 2023 that Ocean Gate staffing was sufficient to ensure safety?

02:40Well, I think training and operations at sea could have been better.

02:53During Dive 88, was there any issues or problems with any of the materials

02:58or the sub or the launch and recovery system?

03:00No, no.

03:01Actually, it was an amazing day.

03:04Everything was just boom.

03:06It just took a long time, but there were no red flags.

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